Lubricator for high speed elevators



Dec. 19, 1933. B. cY

LUBRICATOR FOR HIGH SPEED ELEVATORS Filed June 16, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet l I wc l Fig. 1. a2

lnvenrov.

BurT H.Mucy YMWaW ATTys.

Dec. 19, 1933. H MACY 7 1,940,360

. LUBRICATOR FOR HIGH SPEED ELEVATORS Filed June 16, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 lnvenTon Burf H. Macy kW ATTys.

Patented Dec. 19, 1933 PATENT OFFICE LUBRICATOR FOR HIGH SPEED ELEVATORS BurtH. Macy, Somerville, Mass.

Application June 16, 1930. Serial No. 461,398

18 Claims.

This invention relates to lubricating devices for oiling the guide rails of an elevator car and has for its general object to produce an oiling system which will provide an adequate properly distributed film of oil to the rail not in excess of the required amount.

The object of the invention is further to provide an oiling device which functions only whe the elevator car is in motion.

The object of the invention is further to provide an oiling device which functions by means of the contact of the air against a movable vane as the car moves vertically in its shaft.

The object of the invention is further to pro vide a driven endless carrier which is submerged at one end in a reservoir of oil and which acts to lift the oil therefrom by adhesion thereto and deliverit to the guide rail of the-elevator at a desired rate correlated to the normal speed of the elevator car.

Other objects and features will more fully appear from the following description in connection with the accompanying drawings and will be particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a general view of the device applied to an elevator shoe.

Fig. 2 is a cross section on line 2-2 Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a cross section on line 3-3 Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a detail view showing the manner in which the oil is lifted from the reservoir and deposited on the means used to drive the endless carrier.

Fig. 5 is a cross section on line 55 Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a detail view illustratingone method of controlling the volume of oil delivered to the guide rail. i

Fig. 7 is a detail view illustrating the oil carrying capacity of different sizes of carriers.

The proper lubrication of the guide rail of an elevator has become an increasingly important problem as the height of buildings in general has been increased. From the standpoint of economy it is essential that an automatic means be employed to lubricate the rails, as to do this work manually would constitute a great expense. Certain of these lubricating devices deliver oil to the top of the rail from where it flows by gravity downwardly along the rail. This method is unsatisfactory inasmuch as the distribution of oil throughout the length of the guide rail is uneven, and moreover such a system supplies oil to parts of the rail which are not engaged by the shoe. In order to provide sufficient lubrication to those parts of the rail car.

liver lubricant to the rail usually at or near the guide shoe of the car by means of wicks which utilize the principle of capillarity to transfer the 9 oil from a reservoir to the guide rails. The action of the-wick is very unreliable, however, since a great many factors enter into the delivcry of the oil by this method. For instance, the viscosity of the oil and the fabric of which the 75 wick is made have a very great controlling influence on the rate of feed. Furthermore, the wick continues to feed oilwhile the car is idle which is a very undesirable condition. Moreover, the

wick device does not lend itself readily to controlling the volume of oil which they deliver.

The present invention presents an oiling device which is capable of delivering an accurately regulated volume of oil and automatically discontinues all feeding of the oil when the elevator car is not running. A preferred form of the invention employs a reservoir for the lubricant mounted on the guide shoe of the elevator An air driven device is employed to drive an endless carrier which is immersed in the lubricant at one end and functions by the adhesion thereof as the carrier passes through theliquid to raise it gradually and deliver it to the'guide rail at a measured rate which is adjustable.

The device is preferably mounted on the elevator car in which position a rotating vane is actuated by the contact of the air thereon when the car moves. The rotation of the vane with its connected mechanism transfers the oil from a reservoir to the guide rail. The device, however, may be located at a convenient position in the elevator shaft where the currents of air within the shaft set up by the moving elevator car will actuate the vane to feed the oil to the rails.

In order to clearly present the principles of the invention a particular embodiment thereof is illustrated and will be described herein. The device is adapted to be secured at any suitable point on the elevator car. A convenient point to mount the device is directly upon the guide shoe 1 of the elevator car 2.- The shoe 1- is of a well-known type of construction provided with a self-aligning gib which is spring-pressed against the rails 3 serving to guide the elevator car in a definite path within the elevator shaft. There are usually four such guide shoes upon the elevator car. The number varies, however, with the requirements of the installation. An oiling device may be associated with each of the shoes or one oiler may be associated with each of the guide rails only.

The reservoir 5 containing the lubricating oil is composed of a hollow glass cylinder 6 having a closure 7 at the bottom thereof and another closure 8 at its upper end. The opposing faces of the closures 7 and 8 are recessed to receive the open ends of the cylinder. Gaskets 9 are received in the recesses in the closures to form a liquid-tight joint between the glass and the closure members. The closures are held in place at the end of the cylinder 6 by means of a plurality of bolts 10 extending through bosses 11 at the periphery of the closure '7 extending upwardly and having screw threaded engagement with similar bosses 12 on the upper closure 8. By tightening the bolts 10 the closures are held firmly in position upon the glass cylinder thus forming a serviceable container for the lubricant and at the same time providing visibility to readily check the quantity of oil therein. Any suitable form of container may be employed, however.

The reservoir 5 is adapted to be installed on any elevator shoe by means of a detachable bracket 13 which is secured at one end by means of screws or any other suitable means to the lower closure 7 and secured at its other end to the upper edge 14 of the shoe 1 by means of the screws 15. By adapting the bracket 13 to the shoe the oiling device may be installed with a minimum of labor and expense in any existing elevator equipment.

A novel mechanism is herein provided to transfer the oil from the reservoir to the rail 3. The mechanism is operated by an air-actuated vane which may be of any suitable construction. As herein shown the vane 16 has a plurality of blades 17 and is rotatably mounted on a vertical axis upon the upper closure member. In order to provide access to the chamber of the reservoir the upper closure 8 is constructed in two sections 19 and 20, the lower section being secured to the glass cylinder by means of the bolts 10 as previously described while the upper section 20 is dome-shaped and pivoted upon the section 19 at 21 thus enabling the upper section to be swung backwardly to permit adjustments to be made or to fill the reservoir.

-To increase the sensitiveness of the vane 16 and also to provide protection therefor the vane is enclosed within a cylindrical casing 18 which is open at its top and bottom, and preferably is closely adjacent to the outer edges of the blades 17 of the vane. As the vane moves vertically against the column of air within the elevator shaft the casing 18 directs the air into contact with the blades of the vane and prevents the air from flowing off the ends of the blades thus obtaining the maximum motion of the vane from a given motion of the elevator car. The casing 18 has depending therefrom a plurality of vertical supports 22 which are secured to the section 20 in any suitable manner as by means of the screws 23. A narrow bearing support 24 extends diagonally across the cylinder 13 and has an adjustable bearing screw 25 therein which receives the cone-pointed upper end of the vertical shaft 26 which carries the vane 16. The shaft 26 extends downwardly through an aperture 27 in the dome-shaped member 20, the aperture 27 being sufficiently large to provide ample clearance around the shaft 26. The lower end of the shaft is supported in a bearing screw 28 having screw-threaded engagement with a bracket 29 secured within the dome-shaped member 20 and adapted toreceive the cone-pointed end of the shaft. The screw 25 also has threaded en-* gagement with its support 2 1 thus providing means to accurately adjust the position of the vane. The adjusting feature of the shaft also enables an accurate setting of the bearings to permit the vane to rotate with a minimum of friction. Both bearing screws are provided with lock nuts to secure them in place after proper adjustment has been obtained.

Upon the shaft 26 is secured a worm 30 which meshes with a worm gear 31 mounted on the shaft 32 fixed in the bracket 29. Secured to the gear 31 and rotating therewith upon the shaft 32 is a pulley 33 which has a grooved face to receive an endless chain carrier 34 which extends downwardly having its lower end immersed in the lubricant 35. Any suitable form of bearing may be employed for the gear 31 and the pulley 33. In order to reduce friction, however, a ball bearing 36 is preferably employed. The carrier 34 may be of any suitable construction but is preferably in the form of an endless chain. It has been found by experiment that a chain composed of a series of spherical members secured together by means of short studs fastened in the spherical members at diametrically opposite points thereof constitutes the most efficient type of carrier. A greater quantity of oil will adhere to such a chain since the natural. tendency of a liquid when suspended in small quanti-' ties is to assume a spherical form due to the force of surface tension therein. The combination of the forces of adhesion and surface tension causes a maximum of lubricant to accumu late on a chain of this type as it passes through the liquid.

As the elevator car moves, the contact of the air on the vane causes it to rotate thus driving the pulley 33 through the worm 30 and the gear 31. The pulley drives the carrier causing it to pass through the lubricant in the reservoir. The oil which adheres to the upwardly moving section of the chain as above described is raised until it comes into contact with the pulley 31, at which point it is transferred thereto for the reason that the natural tendency is for the liquid to adhere to the larger surface of the pulley. The force of gravity causes the oil to flow downwardly along the surface of the pulley to the lowermost point thereof where it is delivered to a trough-shaped conduit. The conduit 37 connects with a vertical tube 38 which extends downwardly outside of the reservoir. The lower end of the tube 38 connects with a short conduit 39 in the lower closure member 8 upon the end of which is detachably secured another section of tubing 40. The oil is thus conducted from the point where it leaves the pulley 33 to the tip of the tube 40 which is located closely adjacent the rail 3 and above the elevator shoe.

The upper edges of the slot 41 in the gib 4 of the elevator shoe are chamfered to form a V a qve 2 h h e o he ai -7 he n a! the one Q 8Q n i ioned he he il issu n thcre mm wi l flewnto th roo 42 and w be evenly distributed along thesides ofdthe guide a l suiteb e mean ma be em loy WEE QQQQQQQWW? 9 r m the Point Whfi i eave t e Pulley a. o h u de ai h tu e eme e eiwele ible in or e to n v letns alling tub s o th Weber e t to, e d me ell We he sl ts? h ch le h may a y wit ea b nsta la io Obv ousl the 0 12 f d a th ail n h he e e ato a is i mo ion, and in Pro to e eheat spe d a w ich t e a t a els- I'la ,retete b c ntac i h i n th t eree a the eleva r c mo pw r 1? er eeweyard y- The ua t of oilldelivered t he ra ew e. re u atedn v ni n @a One memos qt accomp h n t esult is by employing different sizes of carrier c ai in w ich eas t e a er th cha n the ,more oil wiilbe delivered to the rail.

another method by which the volume of oil m y be accur e y re ul t d is b by-passing a portion of the oil as it flows tothe rail from the pulley 33, A desirable method of accomplishing this to provide a thumb screw 43 which is threaded into anaperture 44 directly above the ubricant. 35 n t e r oirh thumb Screw cutaway at 45 commencing a short'distance from its upperend and increasing the amount cut away untilat its lower end substantially oneits cross section is removed; By turnn se ew in a d re t e o it f the aperture the by-pass openingifi is gradual- 1y increased in area thus by-passing any desired quantity of oil as it flows down the trough- Shaped conduit 37 thus regulating the amount 01 .1 flowing t the rail.

other me wh h m y be e o t accomplish the same result is to regulate the amount of air which is permitted to come into contact with the vane A desirable method of accomplishing this is by installing a shutter at the top of the cylindrical casing 18. Such a shutter is illustrated in Fig. 3 which is composed of a plurality of louvers 47 pivotally mounted at each end of the casing and having an actuating rod 48 pivotally connected to each ufcthe louvers at 49. The'rod 43 extends through a slot 50 in the casing and may be held in adman, wh i a su able ma n a by means of a set screw 51. By moving the actuating rod the louvers maybe .set in position to admit'the required amount of air and fixed in that position'by means of the set screw 51.

Either of the methods above'described provides means for controlling the rate of delivery of the lubricant to the elevator rail in proper correlation to the normal speed of the elevator and avoids the supply of an undesirable excess of lubricant. a

It will be understood that, the preferred embodiments of the invention disclosed herein are of an illustrative character and the various changes in form and construction and arrangements of parts may be made within the spirit and scope of the following claims. 7

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new, and desired to be secured by Letters Patent, is:

1. An elevator rail lubricator mounted upon the elevator car comprising a source of lubricant, air power means operable by currents of the air within the elevator shaft caused by vertical movements of said car acting to transfer l b ic nt fr m aid o e to m a 2. An elevator rail lubricatingdevice comprising a source of lubricant, a vane continuously movable by the current of'air produced-by ver- '4. An elevator rail lubricating device mounted on the elevator car comprising a source of lubricant, a vane movable'by the current of air produced by vertical movement of the elevator car and means operable by the vane to transfer Inbricant :from said source to the rail at a rate correlated to the speed of the elevator'car.

5. An elevator rail lubricating device mounted on the elevator car comprising a reservoir containing lubricant, air power means continuously operable by the currents of air set up by the vertical movement of the car acting gradually "to draw the lubricant to apoint above the level thereof in the reservoir andmeans for conducting lubricant from such point to the rail.

6. An elevator rail lubricating'device mounted on the elevator car comprising a reservoir containing lubricant, air power means operable by air currents produced by the movement of the bricant from the reservoir, a rotatable vaneoperable by the air during the vertical movements of the elevator car, means operable by'the rotation of said vane to actuate said traveling carrier and means for conducting the lubricant from said carrier to the guide rail.

8. An elevator rail lubricating device mounted on the elevator car comprising a reservoir for, the lubricant, a rotatable driving member located 7,

above the liquid level in the reservoir, a rotatable vane operable by the air during the vertical movements of the elevator car to actuate said.

driving member, an endless carrier mounted on said driving member and driven thereby depend ing into the lubricant acting by adhesion of the lubricant thereto to raise said lubricantiand to transfer it to said driving member and means for conducting the lubricant therefrom to the rail adjacent the elevator shoe.

9. an elevator rail lubricating device mounted 9 h elfivator a eqm i n a es o r o the lubricant, a rotatable grooved pulley located above the level of the lubricant in the reservoir, a rotatable vane operable, by the air as the elevator car moves vertically to actuate said pulley, an endless chain mounted on said pulley and driven thereby depending into the lubricant acting, by adhesion of the lubricant thereto, to gradually draw the lubricant from the reservoir and to transfer it to said pulley and a conduit for directing the lubricant therefrom to the rail.

10. An elevator rail lubricator comprising 9.

til

source of lubricant, air power means operable by currents of air within the elevator shaft caused by vertical movements of theelevator car to deliver lubricant from said source to said rail including means for correlating the rate of delivery ofthe lubricant of the rail to the normal speed of the elevator car.

11. An elevator rail lubricating device mounted on the elevator car comprising a reservoir for the lubricant, a rotatable driving member located above the liquid level in the reservoir, a rotatable vane operable by the air during 'the vertical movements of the elevatorcar to actuate said driving member, an endless carrier mounted on said driving member and driven thereby depending into the lubricant and acting by adhe sion of the lubricant thereto to gradually draw the lubricant from the reservoir and to transfer it to said driving member and adjustable means to control the rate of delivery of the lubricant to the rail.

12. An elevator rail lubricating device mounted on the elevator car comprising a reservoir for the lubricant, a rotatable driving member located above the liquid. level in the reservoir, a rotatable vane operable by the air during the vertical movements of the elevator car to actuate said driving member, an endless carrier mounted on said driving member and driven thereby, depending into the lubricant and acting by adhesion of the lubricant thereto to gradually draw said lubricant from the reservoir and to transfer it to said driving member, a conduit for conducting the lubricant therefrom to the rail and adjustable means for controlling the rate of delivery of the lubricant from said conduit to the rail.

7 13. An elevator rail lubricating device mounted on the elevator car comprising a reservoir for the lubricant, a rotatable driving member located above the liquid level in the reservoir, a rotatable vane operable by the air during the vertical movements of the elevator car to actuate said driving member, an endless carrier mounted on saiddriving member and driven thereby depending into the lubricant and acting by adhesion of the lubricant thereto gradually to transfer the lubricantto said driving member, a conduit for conducting the lubricant therefrom to the rail and adjustable means for by-passing a portion of the lubricant from said conduit to the reservoir whereby the rate of delivery of the lubricant vto the rail may be correlatedto the normal speed .of the elevator car.

into the lubricant in said reservoir, acting by ad- I ing the lubricant from said pulley to the elevator vane located above said reservoir actuated by the hesion of the lubricant thereto gradually to transfer the lubricant to the pulley and a conduit for delivering the lubricant from said pulley to the elevator rail.

15. An elevator rail lubricating device comprising a reservoir for the lubricant, a hollow closure for the top of said reservoir, a rotatable vane located above said reservoir actuated by the air during the vertical movements of the elevator car having a vertical shaft extending into said closure, a grooved pulley mounted in said 010- sure, means operable by the rotation of said vane to actuate said pulley, an endless carrier chain comprising a series 'of balls connected by short studs, supported on and driven by said pulley and depending into the lubricant in said reservoir acting by adhesion of the lubricant thereto gradually to transfer the lubricant to said pulley and a conduit for delivering the lubricant from said pulley to the elevator rail.

16. An elevator rail lubricating device comprising a reservoir for the lubricant having a transparent wall, a hollow closure for the top of said reservoir hinged thereto, a rotatable vane located above said reservoir actuated by the air during the vertical movements of'the elevator car, having a shaft extending into said closure, a grooved pulley mounted in said closure, means operable by the rotation of said vane to actuate said pulley, an endless carrier chain supported on and driven by said pulley depending into the lubricant in said reservoir acting by adhesion of the lubricant thereto gradually to transfer the lubricant to said pulley and a conduit for deliver- 11 0 rail.

17. An elevator rail lubricating device comprising a reservoir for the lubricant, a hollow closure for the top of said reservoir, a rotatable air during the vertical movements of the elevator car having a vertical shaft extending into said closure, means for controlling the current of air acting upon said vane, a grooved pulley mounted in said closure, means operable by the rotation 1 of said vane to actuate said pulley, an endless carrier chain supported on and driven by said pulley depending into the lubricant in said reservoir acting by adhesion of the lubricant thereto gradually to transfer the lubricant to said pulley 5 from the reservoir and a conduit for delivering the lubricant from saidgpulley to the elevator rail.

18. A lubricating device comprising a reservoir for the lubricant, an air actuated rotatable drlving member located above the liquid level in the reservoir, an endless carrier mounted on said driving member and driven thereby depending into the lubricant and acting, by adheision of the lubricant thereto, to gradually draw the lubricant 1 from the reservoir and transfer it to said driving member and adjustable means to control the rate of delivery of the lubricant.

BURT H. MACY. 

